Every Tuesday, the bell at the front desk of the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Alberta headquarters in Calgary dings incessantly, whether a receptionist is sitting there or... Read More
News & Stories
Linda Dickinson, MCC Alberta’s material resources coordinator, presents Simon Eng with a cake honouring his achievement in packing 35,000 school kits over the past 12 years. ‘I may not have much, but I have my hands,’ is something he has said many times over the years. (MCC Alberta photo)
October 31, 2018 | God at work in Us | Linda Dickenson
Bird-Bent Grass truly is a “memoir, in pieces” as it explores the lives of Kathleen Venema and her mother, with anecdotes from the past, excerpts from old letters and reflections... Read More
October 31, 2018 | Artbeat | Barb Draper
Luke 15 includes three stories about being lost and found that all tie together. (Photo by Aaron Epp)
We love boundaries. These boundaries may help us to define who we are, but they also can lead us to assume we know others based on appearances. Most of the time, if people aren’t... Read More
October 31, 2018 | Young Voices | Moses Falco
Avoidance may temporarily decrease your stressor, but it doesn’t solve the actual problem. (Photo by Aaron Epp)
Do you ever find yourself starting something and not completing it? If so, then you’re familiar with avoidance behaviours. Avoidance is the set of things we do to distract... Read More
October 31, 2018 | Young Voices | Laura Abraham
The heartfelt songs of praise raised by the Meheret Evangelical Ethiopian Church filled the Kitchener First Mennonite Church sanctuary with adoration of God. With eyes closed and hands raised, and even a few tears, Meheret led the gathering in worship. (Photo by Arli Klassen)
It was a rich night of worship as a diverse group of people gathered at the third annual intercultural worship service at Kitchener First Mennonite Church on Oct. 20, 2018. Yoel... Read More
October 31, 2018 | God at work in the Church | Lisa Williams
The surfacing of her bipolar disorder may have ended Bev Miller's teaching career, but the Eastern Mennonite University alumna has used her experiences to educate others about the disorder and to encourage participation in a National Institute of Mental Health study of the disorder in Anabaptists. (Photo by James Pruitt/The Village Reporter)
The Mennonite Game—tracing the genealogy of a new acquaintance until finding a common ancestor—might be a fun pastime for people with Mennonite backgrounds, but their relatively... Read More
October 29, 2018 | Web First | Christopher Clymer Kurtz
Ray Dirks, centre, is pictured with Teresita Chiarella, left, and Winnipeg artist Anthony Chiarella at the Mennonite Heritage Centre Gallery’s 20th anniversary fundraising event. (Photo by Gladys Terichow)
A nativity painting by Winnipeg artist Lynda Toews brings attention to Joseph’s commitment to God, and to the bond between farm animals and people. The donkey’s dorsal strip forms... Read More
October 29, 2018 | Web First | Gladys Terichow
Marcus Shantz, Conrad Grebel University College president, left, stands with Grebel’s 2018 Distinguished Alumni Service Award winner, Dean Peachey. Peachey was honoured for his far-reaching contributions in promoting peace in church and society. (Photo by Jennifer Konkle)
A crowd of old friends and alumni, as well as people interested in restorative justice, filled the Grebel Gallery on Oct. 11, 2018, to hear from Dean Peachey. He reflected on the... Read More
October 29, 2018 | Web First | Jennifer Konkle
Ken Quiring, pastor of Grace Mennonite Church in Brandon, Man., and a member of the Network of Biblical Storytellers, give a presentation on biblical storytelling and creation care stories, and presented Scripture for a number of the worship sessions during AMBS’s Rooted and Grounded conference. (Photo by Perdian Tumanan)
As the floodwaters of Hurricane Florence crested in South Carolina in late September, three keynote speakers at this year’s Rooted and Grounded conference on land and Christian... Read More
October 29, 2018 | Web First | Annette Brill Bergstresser
Abram Wall Enns, left, was the civic leader of the Manitoba Colony when rape stories first emerged. He wishes the leaders would have acted sooner. (Photo by Noah Friedman-Rudovsky noahfr.com)
Eight men went to prison, the media gaze moved on, and colony life resumed. But the saga of mass rape in the Bolivian corner of our family of faith is far from over. According to... Read More
October 17, 2018 | God at work in the Church | Will Braun
A revitalized sense of mission has led to a change of name for an 81-year-old Vancouver Mennonite congregation. The church formerly known as First United Mennonite Church (often... Read More
October 17, 2018 | God at work in the Church | Amy Rinner Waddell
‘Bees for Burkina’ honey bees hard at work. (Photo by Doug Klassen, Foothills Mennonite Church)
The hard work of some Alberta bees creates a sweet deal for two very different churches. The “Bees for Burkina” project gives people of Foothills Mennonite Church in Calgary a... Read More
October 17, 2018 | God at work in the Church | Donita Wiebe-Neufeld
Members of the first-place Bible Quizzing for Grown-ups team, the Canadian Mennonite Scribes, are pictured, from left to right: Jim Loepp Thiessen, pastor of Floradale Mennonite Church; Ginny Hostetler, CM’s executive editor; Barb Draper, CM’s editorial assistant; and Tobi Thiessen, CM’s publisher. (Photo by D. Michael Hostetler)
As people gathered for the Bible Quizzing for Grown-ups event on Sept. 30 at the Huether Hotel in Waterloo, the room buzzed with conversation, but when the quizmasters began... Read More
October 17, 2018 | God at work in the Church |
Uzbekistan hosts Mr. and Mrs. Karimov, standing, share warm hospitality with a TourMagination group visiting Serabulak. Mr. Karimov is a descendant of a merchant who gave Mennonite pilgrims a farewell gift of money and other gifts. (TourMagination photo by John Sharp)
Historical experiences of ordinary people living out their faith were shared at a travelogue presentation of Russian Mennonite migrations in Europe and Central Asia. The... Read More
October 17, 2018 | God at work in the World | Gladys Terichow
Meghan Florian’s name surfaced in the small circle of Mennonite pastors and friends I know in the United States. Because this is how I found this book, I assumed it would be a “... Read More
October 17, 2018 | Focus On Books & Resources | David Driedger
Paul Doerksen coordinates the Take & Read program, which gathers 30 people together four times a year to read and discuss books and theology. (Photo courtesy of CMU)
A widely published poet, a retired professor, a farmer, a recent graduate and an engineer regularly discuss literature and theology together. Hard to imagine? The sight is more... Read More
October 17, 2018 | Focus On Books & Resources | Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe
Theology, Spirituality The Bible Unwrapped: Making Sense of Scripture Today. Meghan Larissa Good. Herald Press, 2018, 312 pages. This book is for readers with lots of questions... Read More
October 17, 2018 | Focus On Books & Resources | Barb Draper
Amanda Snyder is the co-founder of Camp Marafiki Pamoja. (Photo courtesy of Amanda Snyder)
A young woman is impacting the citizens of a community 13,000 kilometres away from her home in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont. Amanda Snyder is the co-founder of Camp Marafiki Pamoja, a... Read More
October 17, 2018 | Young Voices | Aaron Epp
Kuri is the solo project of singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer Scott Currie. (Photo by Rachel Pick)
After releasing two full-length albums and an EP with experimental alt-rockers Oh Village, musician Scott Currie is striking out on his own. The Abbotsford, B.C. native, who... Read More
October 17, 2018 | Young Voices | Aaron Epp
Victoria Mamani Sirpa noticed that her family was healthier after they started growing and eating vegetables grown in their greenhouse in El Alto, Bolivia. (MCC photo by Matthew Sawatzky)
Before 2008, Victoria Mamani Sirpa had only ever cooked with four vegetables: carrots, chard, celery and onions. That soon changed after she and her family built a huerta (... Read More
October 15, 2018 | Web First | Rachel Bergen
More than 20,000 people attended the annual MCC British Columbia Festival for World Relief on Sept. 14 and 15, 2018, at the Abbotsford Tradex, which raised more than $1 million to support uprooted and vulnerable people locally and around the world. (MCC B.C. photo)
More than 20,000 people attended the annual Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) British Columbia Festival for World Relief in mid-September, raising more than $1 million to support... Read More
October 15, 2018 | Web First | Katie Kowalchuk
Japanese Mennonites used the ‘Shared Convictions’ of Mennonite World Conference to reflect on the faith and practice of global Anabaptists. (Photo by Atsuhiro Katano)
A quiz on global Christianity and Anabaptism (including MWC statistics) prepared participants from Nihon Menonaito Kirisuto Kyokai Kyogikai (Japan Mennonite Christian Church... Read More
October 15, 2018 | Web First | Atsuhiro Katano
This learning event will replace the fall meeting of Mennonite Church Manitoba delegates.
Embracing vulnerability can help congregations “engage with the world the way Jesus did,” says Ken Warkentin, Mennonite Church Manitoba Executive Minister. Through plenary talks... Read More
October 15, 2018 | Web First | Gladys Terichow
The Manitoba Colony is one of more than 80 Mennonite colonies in Bolivia. On one of the photographer’s last days in Manitoba, he and his sister were told by multiple women that, after the ‘ghost rapes’ of 2009, the nighttime rapes still happen, although less frequently. (Photo by Noah Friedman-Rudovsky)
Eight men went to prison, the media gaze moved on and colony life resumed. But the saga of mass rape in the Bolivian corner of our family of faith is far from over. The crime... Read More
October 3, 2018 | God at work in the Church | Will Braun
The documentary Ghost Rapes of Bolivia was produced in 2013 for Vice Media. See the link below.
Eight men went to prison, the media gaze moved on, and colony life resumed. But the saga of mass rape in the Bolivian corner of the Mennonite family of faith is far from over... Read More
October 3, 2018 | God at work in the Church | Will Braun